High School Is So Troublesome
by the waffle
Summary: Ino is the new girl to Konoha High, and she finds out that it is... Just like normal high school! Hookups and breakups. Crushes and homework. Flirting and fights. Detention and kisses. FINISHED. SEQUEL COMING SOON.
1. New School, New People

AN: Hey everyone! This is my first chapter fic, so if it's not as good as it could be, please don't be angry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with it. So please don't sue!

* * *

Ino sat up, yawned and stretched. She glanced at the clock; it was 7:30 am. She still had an hour and a half before she had to leave. To start at a new school. Ino gulped. She wondered what it would be like at Konoha High School. At her old school she had been quite popular, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, and natural slimness. Well, she had also been quite a bitch. That was why she was going to a new school. The School Board had asked her to leave, of course, she wasn't officially expelled, her father was too rich for that, but she was not allowed back at Konoha Academy for Gifted Young Adults. She didn't really care. It was just filled with rich, spoiled brats who weren't gifted in anything. In fact, Ino doubted that half the people that went there had an IQ over 60. Ino shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. She was trying to turn over a new leaf, be a nicer person. She swung her legs over and climbed out of her bed. She padded over to her iPod dock and put on some music, it always made her feel better. Ino spent a while before deciding on her clothes. She didn't want to look too sluttish or geeky. At last she decided on a denim miniskirt with a pink off-the-shoulder t-shirt with a white tank top underneath and pink beaded flip-flops. Once happy with her choice she got into the shower.

* * *

Ino got out after about 20 minutes, and carefully pulled her clothes on. She pulled her long blonde hair into a low side pony and put a big flowery clip in. A little mascara and clear lip gloss and she was ready to go. She grabbed her bag and jogged downstairs. When she got to the bottom she slowed down, not wanting her parents to see how nervous she was. She stepped into the dining room and her father looked up. 

"Hi Princess. How're you doing? Nervous?"

She walked over, kissed him on the cheek and sat down.

"A little."

"Don't worry sweetheart, you'll knock 'em dead."

He grinned and went back to the newspaper. Ino grabbed a croissant and picked at it, too nervous to eat.

Finally, it was time to go. She stood up shakily, brushing crumbs from her clothes. Her father asked, "Is it okay for Garu to take you to school today? Or would you like me to drive you?"

She replied, "No, no, Garu will be fine today. I'll be fine."

"Okay Princess. See you later."

"Bye."

She left and climbed into the silver car waiting outside.

* * *

It didn't take long for the car to pull up outside the red brick building. Ino took a few deep breaths before stepping out of the car to see everyone staring at her. They had never seen anyone with a personal chauffer before. Ino coughed and started to walk towards the building. She felt everyone staring at her, and fought the urge to stare at her feet. If you showed _any_ weakness, they targeted you. So she kept her head high and climbed the steps. Just as she reached the door, a girl stepped in front of her and barked, "What's your name?" 

"Uh, it's, um, Ino."

Then she regained control of herself, lifted her nose into the air and said defiantly, "What's your name then?"

The girl smirked.

"I'm Temari, nice to meet you. You know, you're pretty, and I can guess you're rich, and you're not a wimp, like some people."

She looked over at a group of girls sitting together at this. One had pink hair and was reading a book, one had short dark blue hair and was humming and one had brown hair in two buns that was kicking a stone.

"You can hang out with me."

"Um… Okay."

"Come on, I'll show you to Tsunade's office. She's the principal."

"Yeah, I know. I've talked to her before."

Temari grunted and led her down a maze of hallways filled with lockers until she stopped in front of a door that said 'Principal'. She knocked loudly on the door and an aggravated woman opened it.

"What is it?"

Temari smirked.

"New girl," she sing-songed. And then she turned and walked away. The woman turned to look at Ino.

"Ah, yes. I remember now."

She waved Ino in to follow her and motioned for her to sit down.

"Right. Ino Yamanaka, correct? I'm Tsunade"

Ino swallowed. "Yes."

"Okay. I have your schedule and locker number here, and your substance should be here soon."

Ino was confused, "Substance?"

Tsunade explained, "A substance looks after a shadow, a new person."

"Oh."

Tsunade smiled again.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine."

There was a knock at the door.

"That'll be your substance. Come in!"

The door opened and in stepped the pink-haired girl and her two friends. Tsunade gestured to the girl and said "This is Sakura, and her friends, Hinata and Tenten. Sakura, this is Ino."

Sakura nodded, "Hi."

"Hey."

Tsunade also said "She'll show you to your locker and you're in most classes together, so it'll be easy."

Ino stood up and followed Sakura out.

* * *

AN: Okay. Well, I know it's short, but shorter chapters mean quicker updates, so deal with it. I'm sorry if anyone is out of character (except Temari, as SOMEONE needs to go in that role, and for what I'm planning, she's the best for it). 

As to pairings, it will be a mixture (it IS high school after all), but there are pairings that I want for definite to happen and they will be ShikaIno SasuSaku NaruHina and NejiTen, okay? But the main one will be ShikaIno.

I've finished Chapter Two and I'm just waiting on Emma-chan to beta for me, so it'll be up soon. Thanks Emma!

Please, review!


	2. Hey, Meet Naruto

AN: Woo! 'T is Chapter Two! Sorry the chapters are a little boring, but I need to gain a strong momentum first (If you get what I mean).

* * *

The girls stepped out of the office and started to walk towards Ino's locker. Sakura had looked at the little sheet of paper and found out that it was pretty near Tenten's. Tenten had sniffed a little at that. Ino had a feeling that she didn't like her, although she had no idea why. They arrived at the locker and Sakura explained how to set the combination. Ino set it and checked her schedule, to see what she had first. It was Math, with Iruka-sensei. She was curious. "What's Iruka-sensei like?" 

Hinata answered. "H-he's really n-nice, but a l-little strict. He constantly s-shouts at N-n-naruto."

She flushed bright red and Ino grinned knowingly. Hinata definitely had a crush on this Naruto person.

Tenten opened up her locker and got her stuff out. "Well, I'm off. I've got Geography. I'll see you at Gym."

"Okay."

"Gym's 2nd, right?" Ino asked, "'Cause you have to show me how you did your hair. It's really nice."

Tenten looked surprised for a moment, but then her stony face appeared again. "Whatever."

Ino's face fell. She was trying to be _nice_ to her, what was _wrong_ with her?

Tenten walked away and Ino turned to Hinata and Sakura, "What's with her?"

They shared a look and Sakura said "Nothing."

Ino sighed, then mentally shrugged. Whatever, she thought. Then she asked, "Do you know Temari?"

"_Everyone_ knows Temari."

"What I meant was, are you friends with her?"

Sakura looked incredulous.

"Do we _look_ like we're friends with her? Of course we're not."

"Well, how am I supposed to know? She's nice."

Both girls gawked at her.

"Is she in any of our classes?"

"No. She's a year older than us. You can see her at lunch though." Then, under her breath, "Don't know why you'd want to though. Bitch extraordinaire." Hinata giggled. Ino looked at them, but didn't bother asking what they were talking about. Temari had said she could hang out with her, that made her nice. Although, she would like to be friends with Sakura, Hinata and Tenten too.

* * *

They arrived at Iruka-sensei's classroom and chose seats in the middle, near the window, beside two boys, one who was blonde and wearing orange and the other had black hair and the symbol of a paper fan on his t-shirt. 

"That's Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura said.

Ino asked Hinata "Is that the Naruto you were talking about?"

Then Naruto butted in, "You were talking about me? What did you say? Who are you? You're cute!"

Ino stared at him. What the-?

The black haired boy, Sasuke, hit him and told him to shut up. Naruto scowled, but did as he said. Once Ino got over the shock that Naruto gave her, she answered his questions. "I'm Ino, I'm new here. And Hinata was just telling me about some people in the school."

"You're new here? Cool! I'll show you around."

"Uh… That won't be necessary, Sakura's going to show me around."

"Okay then. What's your next class?"

Sakura answered for her. "Gym."

"Cool! You're in the same class as us! Cool, right Sasuke?"

"Hn. We'll see how good she is at fighting, and then we'll see how good she is."

Naruto huffed and Sakura giggled, "He pretends he's so tough, when really he's a big softie inside."

Sasuke blushed and just grunted.

It was just then that Iruka-sensei entered. He clapped his hands together. "Right! Hello everybody. How was everybody's summer?"

A mixture of "Great" and "Not bad" came from the people in the class and Iruka-sensei smiled.

"Okay. So I see we have a new student. Where is Ino Yamanaka?"

Ino was just about to put her hand up when Naruto yelled, "She's over here! The cute, blonde one! Well, the other cute, blonde one."

Everyone laughed and Iruka said, "Thank you for that Naruto, but don't shout out in class. I'm sure Ino could have just put her hand up."

Ino was blushing and could hear some people muttering about the 'rich girl'. She smiled weakly and waved. Iruka let the teenagers talk for a couple of seconds longer then told them to shut it because they had work to do. Everyone groaned but stopped when Iruka-sensei glared at them.

* * *

The period went by quickly and Ino had no trouble with the work. She was quite good at math (unlike Naruto, who got many a question wrong) but she wasn't brilliant (like Sakura seemed to be, she got _every_ question right, without a calculator!) either. As soon as the bell rang, Naruto grabbed her arm and tried to drag her all the way to Gym, but a glare from Sakura stopped him. They all walked to Gym, except Hinata as she had Music, and they met Tenten at the doors. Naruto opened them for her and Ino walked in to see the most horrifying sight ever.

* * *

AN: I'm sure you can all guess what the horrifying sight is. It's pretty obvious, I think.

Anyway, Chapter Three will be up soon as. I just need to finish typing it, and then Emma-chan will beta it. Thanks again, Emma!

Also, I've started a new story, it's a fantasy one, and I'm thinking of posting it. I don't know if I should, what with writing this one and all. What do you think?

Please, review!


	3. Gym Class Attention

AN: Here is Chapter Three! I'm SO sorry it's so short, but the next one WILL be longer (I hope).

* * *

Ino couldn't help but stare in fascinated horror at the guy wearing orange legwarmers and green spandex. _Spandex!_

"Hello, youth of Konoha!" he boomed, accompanied by a large sweep of his hand. Sakura whispered, "That's Gai-sensei, the gym teacher."

Ino's eyes widened. _Surely this… Person couldn't be a teacher. He must be on some type of drug. I mean, really. What kind of person wore orange legwarmers and green spandex?_ Ino shuddered. Sakura laughed and said that most teachers at Konoha High were weird.

* * *

Ino got ready for Gym quickly and walked out into the hall. Once everyone was ready Gai-sensei (Or the Green Spandex Monster, as Ino had taken to calling him) explained what they would be doing. "I want to see how well you all fight, so I'll put you into pairs," everyone grumbled and Ino _slightly_ panicked, she didn't want to be paired with someone she didn't know, "and you'll spar. Absolutely **no** weapons," he looked at Tenten, "and I don't want you to go overboard." Gai looked at Sasuke and a boy with long brown hair and eyes like Hinata's. He struck a pose and grinned manically. Everyone in the class took a step back and he clapped his hands.

"Here is who you'll be paired up with; Sasuke and Sakura." Sakura jumped and Sasuke grunted, but you could see he was pleased.

"Neji and Tenten." The boy with Hinata's eyes started to walk over and Tenten muttered a small "Yes!".

"Naruto and Kin." Naruto's hopes that he would be paired with Ino were dashed. He cried out "What?!" and went into a huff, but stomped over to Kin nonetheless. Gai-sensei went through a couple more names until he came to "Kiba and Ino." A boy with messy brown hair and red markings on his face jumped up and shouted "Yes!". Everybody swivelled around to face him and he smile sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Ino began to walk over to him, she guessed this was Kiba.

* * *

Kiba saw her coming over and grinned. Yeah! He had the new hottie as his Gym partner! Kiba ran a hand through his hair, thus making at messier, but he didn't care.

* * *

Ino saw him "fixing" his hair and smiled. She was use to the attention of boys. In her old school, plenty of guys had asked her out, and she'd broken many hearts. Ino only went out with really good looking guys, usually, and had always been the dumper, but if this Kiba guy was nice, maybe she'd give him a chance. He _was_ kind of cute. She walked up to him and said "Hi."

"Hey gorgeous."

Ino rolled her eyes. How cheesy.

"Y'know, I don't really want to hurt a beautiful girl like you."

Ino laughed. "Well, I'm not bothered about hurting a cute boy like you." She swung a punch at Kiba but he jumped back and laughed. "Feisty and funny _and_ gorgeous, what more could a guy want?"

Ino laughed again. Kiba was funny.

"Oi! Much as the Youth of Konoha should have fun and enjoy their Springtime of Youth, please, not while I'm speaking!" He grinned again and put his thumbs up.

"Well, that's everyone. Now, I want you to be careful. No serious damage, alright? Now, start!"

* * *

Ino and Kiba looked at each other and then Ino kicked him and he staggered a little. Gai-sensei was standing watching them and praised her for catching Kiba off guard. Then he walked off and the fought a little more. Ino was good, but Kiba defeated her. She had learned a little at her old school, but too many girls had complained, so it had been dropped.

* * *

Gai called them all to stop. He said that he had seen what level they were all at and would put them into suitable groups next time. Ino went and got changed into her normal clothes and waited for Sakura and Tenten to get ready. She asked Tenten, "You've got a crush on that Neji guy, haven't you?"

Tenten looked incredulous and said, "Of course not!" but there was a slight blush on her cheeks. Ino smiled and let the subject drop. The other girls finished getting ready and picked up their bags. All three walked out and waited for the next bell to ring for break. Ino hoped that she would see Temari next.

* * *

AN: Chapter Four will be up very soon! And so will my new story 'Precious' (No, I'm not shamelessly advertising it). I hope hope HOPE that I can make Chapter Four longer. I know how annoying short chapters can be. But you can deal, right? 'Specially as I get them up quite quickly!

Please, review!


	4. Revelations Or, Now We Know!

AN: Please don't kill me for this! but now you find out why Tenten doesn't like Ino! That counts for something, right? And Shika finally appears!

* * *

Ino follow Sakura and Tenten to the main doors where they met Hinata. The girls went and sat down on the grassy banks next to the steps leading up to the building. Ino had just started to get comfortable when she heard someone shouting her name. 

She looked up to see Temari sitting on the other side waving to her. She scrambled up and apologised to the other girls. Tenten said "Whatever." And the other two were silent. Ino shrugged and walked over to Temari. Temari was sitting with that girl Naruto fought, Kin, Ino thought her name was, and two boys. Ino sat down next to Temari. Temari introduced her to the other people. "Ino, this is Kin. Kin, Ino."

Kin took a quick glance at her, and then went back to filing her nails.

"Ino, this is my brother, Kankuro." Kankuro leered at her and smirked.

"And this is my boyfriend, Shikamaru."

The other boy was lying down, so Ino couldn't see his face. Temari sighed and kicked his leg. "Oi, Shikamaru, get up and say hello to Ino."

Shikamaru grumbled but sat up. He looked at Ino and she looked back at him. She got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. It seemed that Temari saw it as she frowned then put on a fake smile and squealed, "Oh my God Ino! You and Kankuro would be so cute together!"

Ino was squicked out. "We would?"

Kankuro put his arm around her, "Of course we would, baby."

Ino was disgusted and shrugged his arm off.

"Please don't touch me."

Kankuro mimicked her in a voice that sounded nothing like hers.

"Ooh! Don't touch me!"

Everyone but Shikamaru laughed and Temari said, "Don't be so uptight, Ino."

Ino laughed sheepishly.

* * *

On the other side of the steps, the three girls sitting together were talking about Ino. Tenten being particularly harsh. 

"I bet she's just like Temari. Except worse, 'cause she's a rich snob. She'll pretend to be your friend for a while, and then screw you over."

Sakura sighed, "She's probably nothing like that. You're just being prejudiced because she was talking to Temari."

"Whatever. We all better watch our backs just in case."

Hinata piped up, "She seems really nice, and I like her."

"Hinata, you see niceness in everyone. It's a good thing, but you can be a little naive."

"Mm…"

* * *

Kin and Temari started talking about a new store opening in the local mall, while Ino sat there and occasionally glanced at Shikamaru. God, he was hot. But she wouldn't do anything, he _was _Temari's boyfriend, and while she wouldn't have thought twice about it before, she was determined to play nice. But it didn't hurt to imagine, right?

* * *

Soon the bell rang and Ino ran to catch up with Hinata, Tenten and Sakura. 

"Hi guys. So what's next?"

"You've got Physics next. We're all in that class."

"Anyone else I know?"

"Well, Kiba's in that class too. And you know Temari's boyfriend, Shikamaru? He's in that class too."

Tenten muttered, "A lot nicer than Temari."

Ino asked, "Why don't any of you like Temari?"

Sakura as about to answer when Tenten jumped in, "Simple, she's a bitch."

Ino frowned, "Well, she hasn't been anything but nice to me, and she's my friend so don't say anything about her when I'm about, alright?"

"Whatever" and Tenten stalked on ahead.

Ino stared after her and Sakura rushed to explain.

"You see, Tenten and Temari used to be best friends. They hung out all the time. Then Tenten got her first boyfriend, and then Temari stole him from her. She flaunted him for a few weeks, then dumped him, saying he wasn't worth her."

Ino drew in a sharp breath.

"So you can see why she doesn't like her, or anyone else who hangs out with her."

Ino nodded.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Sakura shrugged.

"You couldn't have."

* * *

AN: I'm SO SORRY that it's SO short! But I have a good reason! I was writing it and it was a lot longer, but when I was reading it over, it just didn't feel right, and so I'm leaving it for another chapter. 

Chapter Five I haven't started writing yet, but it will be up as soon as possible.

Anyway, tomorrow, I have to do this Danceathon thing at my school, and we get to dress up, so I'm going as... Tsunade! Yay! Probably no one will know who I am ( . ), but I can deal with that.

Please review!


	5. That's IT!

AN: Hey people! Dressing up as Tsunade was WAY fun, even if no one knew who I was supposed to be. -cries-

Anyway, sorry if this took a bit long (if you think it did anyway), I have HUGE exams coming up and I had a project to do too (why do they expect us to study AND do homework?).

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to ShikamaruHatake, HinataInuzuka and lunamoon, 'cause they made me feel better about my massive workload (especially Shika). Thanks guys!

* * *

The two hours passed quickly and soon it was lunchtime. Ino walked to the lunch hall with Sakura, Hinata and Tenten. She bought a plate of macaroni cheese, an apple and some water and was just about to sit down when Temari barged over and grabbed her arm. She yanked her and dragged her over to where she was sitting with Kin, Kankuro and Shikamaru. Temari pushed her down and looked over at Ino. 

"What did you think you were doing, sitting with those losers?"

Ino scowled, but quickly smiled again. She didn't want Temari to think she liked them.

"Well, Sakura has to show me to all my classes, and her friends always tag along."

Kin looked over, sympathetic, "Oh really? Poor you."

Ino nodded.

"Yeah, totally."

* * *

"See? I told you, she's just like them." 

Sakura and Hinata shook their heads.

"No, she's not."

Tenten stared at them.

"What are you talking about?" she gestured over to where Temari sat.

"Look at that!"

"So?"

Tenten shook her head.

* * *

Temari and Kin looked at Ino's plate of macaroni cheese. 

"Are you really going to eat that? I mean, you don't want to get any _bigger_ do you?"

They eyed Ino's hips critically. Ino looked at them, the macaroni cheese and her hips.

"Eh-heh. No, of course not."

She picked it up and dumped it in the bin.

Kankuro grinned and said "Don't worry, you look hot already."

She smiled weakly.

Shikamaru shook his head, "It's far too troublesome to worry about what you look like."

Temari kicked him under the table, "Which would explain why you're so scruffy all the time. It's a wonder I even go out with you."

"Well, why don't you dump me then?"

Temari blinked and stuttered, "W-what?"

Shikamaru muttered "How troublesome," but repeated himself, "Well, why don't you dump me then?"

Temari stood up, pointed at Shikamaru and screeched "What?! You **want **me to dump you?!"

Every single head in the lunch room swivelled around to look at them. Kankuro stood up and moved his hands in a placating manner to the heavily breathing Temari.

"He was just kidding, right Shikamaru?"

He turned to look at him, but Shikamaru just shrugged. Temari's face went bright red with anger and she screamed "Right! That's _IT_! We're finished! Go sit back with your _loser _friends!"

And she turned to sit back down and yelled at everyone else, "What are you looking at?!"

Everyone turned back to their lunches.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Kiba sat discussing it with Tenten, Sakura and Hinata, who was bright red too, but for very different reasons. Naruto and her knees were touching! She could have exploded. Shikamaru plopped down in the seat next to Kiba. 

"Dude, what just happened?"

Shikamaru laid his head on the table and mumbled, "You didn't just see it?"

"Well, yeah, but… I thought you _liked_ Temari. Not sure why you liked her though."

Shikamaru shrugged, "I did. And now I don't. But it was too troublesome to dump her."

The boys shook their heads in amazement and the girls sat giggling.

"Did you _see_ the look on her face? I thought I would die of laughter!"

I know! Wasn't it _hilarious_?"

"I-it w-was very f-funny."

And they all burst into peals of laughter.

"Oi. Can you keep it down? I'm trying to have a nap here."

"Man, how can sleep after something like that?"

They shrugged and let it go. It was Shikamaru, after all. He could sleep through a nuclear holocaust.

* * *

Temari sat steaming and mumbling under her breath. Ino could only hear a few words, "_bastard_" and "_kill _him". 

She knew Temari was talking about Shikamaru. Ino looked over at him, sitting with his friends. He didn't look too bothered about being dumped loudly and publicly. In fact, he looked…_asleep._ Ino smiled; maybe she could ask him out now… Temari glared at her. How dare Ino be happy when she would have to find a new boyfriend? It was outrageous!

* * *

AN: I love this chapter! Yay! I mean, you have to like Temari for letting Shika-kun free for Ino, right? So, did y'all like that? I hope you did.

Sorry it's so short (again). Y'know, see the word count for this (without ANs) is 665, and Chapter Four was 656. Kind of weird, huh?

Okay, so not really.

I haven't started writing Chapter Six yet, so it might be a little while. And Chapter Two of Precious is almost done, so you can rejoice!

Please review!


	6. Crush? Shikamaru? Don't Be Silly

AN: Sorry for the long wait! I went on this little holiday thing and couldn't post it. And last night when I tried to put it up my mother wouldn't let me. . So sorry! But, it is longer than usual, so please forgive me!

* * *

Ino settled in well at Konoha High. She became friendlier with Hinata and Sakura, and even Tenten seemed to be warming up to her. She didn't really get to talk to Shikamaru, except in Physics, as she sat beside him, but he was usually asleep. Temari made sure that she never got near him, and had even set up a "date" between Kankuro and her, in which he tried to kiss her and she punched him. He stayed away from her after that.

* * *

All the time she was with Temari, she noticed more and more just how horrible she really was, and found that she didn't want to hang out with her anymore. At break and lunch she stayed with Sakura and co., until one day, Temari came up to her and said, "Why do you want to hang out with these geeks instead of me? Especially that narcoleptic freak." She pointed at Shikamaru. Tenten looked up at her, "I didn't know you knew any words that were more than four letters long." 

"Are you calling me stupid?"

Tenten nodded.

"Yes. I would say I am."

Temari narrowed her eyes and stalked away.

Tenten smile cheerfully and said, "Well, that was fun!"

Sakura raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. Hinata shook her head. Ino unwrapped her caramel shortbread and took a huge bite out of it.

"Whoa, just _how_ big is your mouth?" said Kiba in wonderment as he walked up to the table and looked at the caramel shortbread. Naruto walked up behind him with a red haired boy following him.

"Hey guys, is it okay if Gaara sits with us?"

Everyone nodded and Ino began to introduce herself but stopped when she saw the look on his face. She whispered to Kiba, "Who's that?"

He looked over at Gaara, then Ino and swallowed the food in his mouth.

"That's Gaara. He's Temari's little brother."

"_Really?_" she asked incredulously, with widened eyes.

"Uh-huh," Kiba nodded, "Weird, right?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Gaara liked the people sitting at this table. Well, most of them. He wasn't sure about Shikamaru; he _had_ gone out with his evil sister. And that girl, Ino, she had been her friend, _and_ gone on a date with Kankuro. But she had punched him. Seeing his broken nose had been very satisfying. Gaara grinned.

* * *

Ino and Kiba looked at Gaara, freaked out. He was grinning like a maniac. A hand waved in front of Ino's face. 

"Hellooo… Earth to Ino?"

Ino shook her head.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"You're coming to the dance with us, right?"

"What dance?" Ino asked, confused.

Tenten rolled her eyes, "It's a stupid charity dance in which no money actually goes to charity."

"But you're still going, right?"

"Of course. It's so amusing to make fun of the people there."

"Well, anyway," Sakura turned back to Ino, "You're going, aren't you? 'Cause we all usually go as a group."

"Yeah, I'll go."

"Good. You can go with Shikamaru."

Sakura grinned at Ino and she blushed.

"What do you mean "go with Shikamaru"? I thought we went as a group."

"Well, we do, but we can't _dance _as a group, can we?"

"I suppose not. But why Shikamaru?"

"Well, I'm dancing with Sasuke, Tenten's dancing with Neji and Hinata's dancing with Naruto." Hinata blushed bright red, "And you li-"

Ino slapped her hand over Sakura's mouth and glared at her.

"Don't you dare say anything."

Sakura nodded and mumbled something that Ino took as assent. She moved her hand.

"You promised you wouldn't say anything about that." She hissed.

A few days ago Ino had told Sakura about her crush on Shikamaru. Sakura had been delighted and kept trying to set them up, but Temari always got in the way.

"Okay, okay. I won't, don't worry."

Ino sat back down. Kiba looked from the blushing Ino to the grinning Sakura. And he got it.

"You have a crush on Shikamaru, don't you?" he asked loudly.

Everyone turned to look at Ino, except said Shikamaru, who was snoring softly. Ino blushed harder.

"No! No, of course not. Don't be silly Kiba."

He grinned knowingly and was all set to tease her mercilessly when he saw the look on Sakura's face. He closed his mouth and let it be.

* * *

The charity dance was the next week and the girls decided they would go shopping at the weekend and would get ready at Ino's house and then sleepover. 

The rest of the week passes slowly to Ino, who loved to shop, especially for things like this, although she knew it probably wouldn't be like Konoha Academy's dances. Finally, it was the weekend. Time to shop!

* * *

AN: So, 't is shopping and dancing next time! What shall happen at the (non) charity dance? Can you guess? Huh? Huh? Guess right and you shall get some (real) money! 


	7. Whose Boyfriend?

AN: So... I've explained already why this took so long in my other fic, so if you really care, you can look there.

Well, not much else to say...

Ooh! No one guessed what would happen next. Not accurately, anyway. So there will be no real money given out.

-is shot-

Sorry!

XP

* * *

Garu pulled up outside Sakura's house in the suburbs of Konoha. Ino climbed out and went up to the door and knocked. Sakura opened the door and Ino followed her to her room. Tenten and Hinata were already there.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me get my shoes."

The girls put their shoes on and went out to the car, Tenten, Hinata and Sakura muttering about how expensive and nice it was.

The mall wasn't that far away, so it didn't take long to get there. Ino hadn't been shopping with friends like this for a while, and she knew it would be fun.

"So, what shop should we go to first?"

Ino looked around and pointed to a place, "What about there? Icy?"

The girls agreed and they headed in. Each girl found something they liked as soon as they went in. Sakura was looking at a scarlet dress that was on sale. Hinata found a pale lilac dress with a shimmering shawl. Tenten looked over a forest green dress that she liked and Ino was looking for her size in a deep purple dress.

They spent hours looking all around the different shops and looking at dresses before going back to Icy and buying the dresses they had first seen. The girls also chose accessories to go with them and headed to the food court. They sat for a while, chatting about the upcoming dance.

"This is going to be fun!" Sakura said.

"You're only saying that because you're dancing with Sasuke." said Tenten.

"Yeah, so? You get to dance with Neji. And Ino with Shikamaru and Hinata with Naruto," Sakura smiled at Hinata, "You two are so cute together!"

Hinata smiled shyly. The girls finished their food and headed home.

Eventually, it was the day of the dance and Hinata, Tenten and Sakura turned up at Ino's house loaded down with bags.

"Wow…" Tenten breathed, "It's _massive_."

Ino met them at the door and led them up to her room. When they got there the three girls stared, awestruck. It was the epitome of luxury.

The girls quickly got ready and Ino gave them makeovers. They all looked stunning, as Ino's parents said so when they went downstairs and struck a few poses for them.

"You know, these boys should be picking you up. In my day—"

"In your day, dinosaurs walked the earth," Ino interrupted.

"Don't be so cheeky young lady, or you won't be going tonight!" but he was smiling, "Now get going, Garu's waiting outside."

Thankfully, the ride to the dance was short. When they got there, the boys were already waiting, Shikamaru complaining already! All of them went in and took over the far left corner. Ino whispered to Tenten, "I thought this was a charity dance? Where's the collecting dish, or whatever?"

Tenten replied, "I told you, there's no actual money collected."

Ino raised her eyebrows, but shrugged.

Temari entered at that moment. She was hanging on the arm of a stocky boy with tufty black hair.

"Who's that?" Ino asked. Tenten shrugged, "I don't know."

Then a song came on and everyone but Ino and Shikamaru got up to dance. She sidled over to him and asked casually, "Do you want to dance?"

Shikamaru glanced at her.

"Not particularly."

Ino's face fell.

"Oh, come on. Please?" she batted her eyes.

"OH, fine then," he grumbled, blushing lightly. Her face lit up and she practically dragged him to the dance floor. Ino put her arms around his neck and Shikamaru rested his hands on her hips. Sakura, Tenten and Hinata grinned at Ino as did Sasuke, Neji and Naruto at Shikamaru. Naruto even put his thumbs up. Both blushed.

They had been dancing for about a minute when something pulled hard on Ino's hair and she fell back. It was Temari, and her face was like thunder.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she shrieked at Ino. Then she turned to Shikamaru and said in a softer, less crazy, voice, "Hey. I've decided to take you back."

Shikamaru just stared at her. Ino scrambled up and smoothed her dress.

"Leave him alone," she said to Temari.

"Stay away from him, whore. He's _my_ boyfriend."

"I am not a whore. Not everyone wants to follow you into your career, no matter how good the tips are. And he's _not_ your boyfriend. You broke up with him!"

"Don't call me a hooker! Anyway, I'm taking him back. It's not like he'll say no, right Shikamaru?"

Both girls looked over at him. He simply shrugged. Ino was desperate to get Temari to go away, and did the only thing that came into her head. She said, "He's my boyfriend now," and she pulled him towards her and kissed him.

* * *

AN: Oo

Well, what did you think of THAT?

Go Ino, go Ino!


	8. What Happens Now?

AN: So, I DID upload a new chapter before my exams finished. You lot should feel flattered. I should feel proud. I managed to get this finished amidst all my study, worrying and homework (yes, they gave me homework while I have exams). Anyway, I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats (not). But fist, let me tell you some things. XD

I went to see Tenacious D last night and it WAS SO AWESOME I CANNOT DESCRIBE IT.

Also, I found out that Recon is coming to Glasgow on January 8th and I'm SO there. I'm cosplaying as Kiba! Woohoo.

Anyway, on with the story.

* * *

_What the hell? _thought Shikamaru when he felt Ino's lips on his. Then he stopped thinking and instinctively kissed her back and pulled her closer. 

_Oh my God! He's kissing me back! _thought Ino. Eventually they parted slowly. They blinked and smile sheepishly at each other. Ino turned and smirked triumphantly at Temari who turned and stalked away. Ino looked around at Sakura, Hinata and Tenten, who were staring at her in shock. Then Sakura ran up to her and dragged her to the girl's bathroom.

"What the hell was that?" Sakura screeched.

"Uh… Well… I guess it was a kiss."

"Of course it was a kiss!" said Tenten, "But why did you kiss him?"

Ino shrugged. "I don't know. It just…" Ino shrugged again. They stared.

"It just felt right to do, y'know?"

Sakura nodded and slung an arm around Ino's shoulders. "Yeah, I think I do."

The girls emerged from the bathroom to discover that the boys had left. "What?" shrieked Tenten, "They just up and left us?" Her fists clenched and unclenched. She longed to hit something. Pity Temari was gorging on potato chips (AN: CRISPS!) at that moment and so was out of Tenten's sight. Ino laid her hand on Tenten's shoulder and said "C'mon, let's go home. It'd be boring now anyway."

The other girls agreed. Ino phoned Garu to pick them up and they were soon on the way to Ino's house.

Ino's parents were surprised that they were home so early, but willingly gave up the living room. "Why aren't we in your room?" asked Hinata.

"Well, there's more room down here, and we won't bog anyone. Also, we're closer to the kitchen." Ino grinned. "So, do you want anything to eat? We've got loads of things, or we could just order something in."

"I want pizza!" shouted Tenten.

"Me too." said Sakura.

"Alright," Ino turned to Hinata, "What 'bout you?"

Hinata shrugged. "I don't mind."

"Okay. What kind of pizza do you want?"

They told her and she ordered it.

The pizza came quickly and the girls sat munching it and discussing what happened at the dance.

"Did you see Temari's face when you kissed Shikamaru?"

"Trés amusant!"

The girls all turned to Sakura. "Huh?"

She scratched the back of her head, "Uh, never mind. What I would've given to have a camera then!"

Hinata giggled then said "Guess what else happened."

The three others turned to her. "What?" asked Ino. Hinata blushed. "Naruto asked me out!"

The other girls shrieked and leapt onto Hinata to bombard her with Mighty Hugs of Doom™. "When did this happen?!" asked Ino.

"While you were making-out with Shikamaru." Hinata replied.

"I was not making-out with him!"

"Uh-huh. But you wanted to, right?" Sakura said. Ino went bright red.

"So," said Tenten, "What do you think'll happen next? Do you think you'll go out with him?"

Ino shrugged and reached for another slice of pizza. "I want to, obviously. But it's up to him. I mean, he knows I like him now, so if he likes me, he can ask me out."

Sakura and Tenten looked at each other. "Yeah, but Shikamaru is lazy. He might find it too 'troublesome' to actually ask you out."

Ino was incredulous. "Surely he's not _that _lazy."

* * *

AN: Aw, poor Ino doesn't know quite how lazy Shikamaru can be. I don't consider that a spoiler, since you probably all knew that was gonna happen anyway, and I don't have any of the next chapter written anyway. So it might turn out completely different. Like, I had a TOTALLY different idea for this chapter, it was nothing like this, then I had this idea instead.

Anyway, please review!

And if anyone has Myspace, I'm www. myspace. com/ youbetternotbebroken

I'm sure you all know to take the spaces out.


	9. Finally!

AN: Sorry for the long update time. But when I should've been writing this I was talking to James (AKA The Jar Head, go read his stories, they're hilarious!). He kept distracting me, jerk!

So, I go back to school on Monday, and, believe it or not, the update time will probably be shorter!

So, enjoy.

* * *

Over the next few days Ino waited impatiently for Shikamaru to ask her out. She wondered aloud and complained to Sakura, Hinata and Tenten. Why hadn't he asked her out yet? Didn't he like her? They did their best to console her, but nothing would do. She grew more and more desperate while Temari laughed at her anguish. Then Ino got angry. She stormed up to Shikamaru in the hallway and hit his shoulder. "Why haven't you asked me out yet?" 

He looked up, yawned and said "What?"

Ino hissed and balled her fists. "What haven't you asked me out yet?" Her voice grew shaky, "Don't you like me?"

He shrugged. "I _do _like you. It was just too troublesome to ask you out. Couldn't _you _have asked _me _out?"

Ino's jaw dropped, "So he really is that lazy…" she whispered to herself. She snapped back to reality. "It's traditional and right for the guy to ask the girl out. So, go on."

Shikamaru was confused. "Go on with what?"

"Asking me out!" Ino said exasperatedly.

Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru said "Would you like t go out with me?"

Ino squealed, latched onto his arm and said "Yes!"

He grunted and she let go and ran off to class. Shikamaru winced and rubbed his arm then sloped off to class.

* * *

At lunchtime Ino found Shikamaru before he got to the lunchroom, and they walked there together. Hand-in-hand at Ino's insistence. 

When Sakura saw them holding hands she screeched and ran over. She then proceeded to drag Ino over to where she and the other girls were sitting so Ino could tell all.

"So? What happened? Did he ask you out?"

"Yup! He did!" Ino all but squealed.

Tenten lifted her fist into the air and yelled "All right!"

When everyone looked over curiously she slowly lowered her arm and laughed sheepishly.

* * *

At the next table, where the boys were sitting, Naruto was attempting to interrogate Shikamaru. "What was up with you and Ino? Why were you holding hands? Are you going out now? Come on! Tell us!" 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shut up you idiot. I think it's pretty obvious that they're going out now. Did you not see them kissing?"

"Don't call me an idiot! And yeah, I did, but then Shikamaru wanted to leave. So explain that!"

Sasuke opened his mouth but was interrupted by Tenten's "All right!"

They all looked over and Kiba asked "What was that all about?"

Everyone looked at Neji, who said "What?"

"Well, she's _your _girlfriend. Do you have any idea what that was all about?"

Neji flushed, "She is _not _my girlfriend. Even if she was, I still wouldn't understand what that was about, as I am not a girl."

"Yeah but Shikamaru said Ino wasn't _his _girlfriend, and look at them now! They walk about holding hands! Although I didn't think Shikamaru was the type for PDA."

"It was at Ino's insistence."

"Oh, so you're awake huh? It was Ino's insistence? Man, you're already whipped!"

Shikamaru groaned. "It's far too troublesome to argue."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

Temari smashed her hand against the table when she spotted Ino and Shikamaru enter the lunchroom together and _holding hands!_ "That bitch! How dare she steal _my _boyfriend!" 

"Um…" began Kankuro, "You're not really his girlfriend anymore…"

Temari turned to glare at him and he swallowed then turned to look down at his food.

"We need to find a way to get back at her… What do you think we should?"

"Well, um, I don't know. You usually come up with the evil schemes."

"They're not evil schemes, they're brilliant plans. And I have the perfect one for Little Miss Whore."

Kankuro half expected her to laugh evilly and rub her hands together.

* * *

Ino shuddered and had a strong sense of foreboding. But when Hinata asked another question she forgot all about it. 

A couple of days later, she was in hospital.

* * *

AN: Please don't hurt me for hirting Ino and using a over-used idea! There is a twist! Quite an unexpected twist I hope.

By the way, people waiting for Precious? Please don't kill me, but I've barely started the chapter, and I just can't seem to write it. Please bear with me!

I have a new story as well. It should be up either tonight or tomorrow. It's a bit more 'Teen' than this, and it's a bit darker and more angsty. I hope, if I've written it right. I've based it on Sarra Manning's work, so if you like her, hopefully you'll like that. I've borrowed the title and original concept from her, but it totally changes from the beginning, in case people were wondering.

Please review!


	10. Making Plans

AN: Um... Sorry? I know it took a long time to get up and stuff, but please forgive me?

Please?

And I just noticed a discrepancy in the story. Um... Hinata has a free period, and that's why she can visit Ino while everyone else is at school, okay? Okay.

Now, on with the story.

* * *

"O-oh my G-god Ino! Are y-you alright?"

Ino groaned. "Hinata, do I _look_ alright to you?"

Hinata couldn't help but giggle. "W-well, no. But it's g-good to s-see that you're s-still your usual s-self. H-has S-shikamaru b-been up to s-see you?"

Ino winced a little bit then pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Yeah. He brought me flowers and chocolates. I think he knew that I would kill him if he didn't."

Both girls laughed.

"S-so who d-do you think d-did this t-to you? And _w-why?_"

Ino gave the blue-haired girl a pointed look. "I would say that both are pretty obvious."

"You t-think T-temari did t-this?"

"No. I _know _she did."

"You s-saw her f-face? You s-should tell t-the police."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Of course I didn't, do you really think Temari would be that stupid? She got someone to do it for her, I'm sure of it."

"S-so you're g-going to t-tell the p-police, right?" asked Hinata.

Ino's grin was malicious, "No. They wouldn't believe me. I need you, Sakura and Tenten to help me come up with ways to make Temari's life a living hell. _That'll _be the perfect revenge."

Hinata was slightly scared of Ino just then.

"Um… I…don't know…if that's a…y'know, a good idea…"

Ino glared at Hinata. "Look at what she did to me. You're telling me you don't want to get revenge? Not just for me, but all the things she's done to you, Sakura and Tenten as well."

Hinata bit her lip and said "W-well… I m-mean, I _would_,b-but…"

"I see it now!" Ino cried, "You're not a mean girl inside. You hate her, but you _still _don't want to hurt her." Ino nodded, "You're a _really _nice person, but I'm sure Tenten and Sakura wouldn't mind."

Hinata bit her lip again and looked at her watch. "I h-have to g-go now, but S-sakura and Tenten w-will be over l-later."

She left and Ino flopped onto the pillows. Well, at least she wouldn't be bored thinking up revenge schemes.

* * *

Back at school, Tenten confronted Temari. "Why did you do that to Ino?!"

"Did what to Ino?" Temari asked confusedly. "I didn't do anything."

Tenten glowered at the other girl. "Don't play dumb. She's in hospital 'cause of what you did!"

"I already told you, I didn't do anything! But she's in hospital?" Temari smirked.

"You evil bitch!" Tenten launched herself at Temari and started pulling at her hair and laying into her.

The two of them were gathering a lot of attention. A crowd formed around the two girls, chanting "Fight! Fight!"

Suddenly, the two fighting girls were yanked apart.

"You two, come with me," said Tsunade.

* * *

"Now, why were you two fighting?"

Tenten flung her hand towards Temari and said "She put Ino in hospital!"

Tsunade turned towards Temari. "Is this true?"

Temari looked indignant, "Of course not!" she cried. "How could you accuse me of something like that?"

"'Cause we all know you did it!" Tenten glared at Temari.

"Now, now." Tsunade said placatingly, "You girls will have detention for the next week. I will not tolerate fighting on school grounds."

The girls grumbled, but know there was no point in arguing.

Outside Tsunade's office, Tenten went up close to Temari and growled, "You'll pay for what you did."

Then she stalked off to meet Sakura so the could go visit Ino.

* * *

AN: Okay, I know it's short considering the update time, but if I made it longer, YOU would have to wait longer, and we wouldn't want that now, would we?

And it seems that Ino is letting out her evil streak... Watch out Temari! evil laugh

Review pretty please?


	11. Plan Gone Right Yet So Wrong

AN: Sorry that it took so long to get up! I'm really, truly sorry. But you'll forgive me, right? Right?

* * *

Ino had come up with quite a few plans while she was waiting for Tenten and Sakura.

There was one involving pigeons… And another with a Hoover…

"Hi Ino!"

Ino snapped out of her reverie, "Hey guys!"

Tenten and Sakura walked in and sat on either side of Ino's bed. "How're you feeling?" asked Sakura.

"I'm great!"

Tenten and Sakura exchanged curious glances. She was in hospital with pretty serious injuries and she says she's _great_? "Um…really?"

"Yeah, I've come up with quite a few ideas."

Tenten confusedly asked "Ideas for what?"

"Hinata didn't tell you about my brilliant plan?"

"Um, no." said Sakura.

So Ino explained her carefully thought out plan. Sakura and Tenten both agreed that it _was _brilliant.

"We should get Naruto to help!" Sakura said excitedly.

"Naruto? What could he do?"

"He's, like, the world's best prankster! And he hates Temari just as much as we do."

Ino giggled. "I should've guessed."

"So," said Tenten, "what's your first idea?"

"Well," Ino said, "I've had quite a few, as I said. I'll tell you a couple and then we can vote."

Ino picked up a notebook lying on her bedside cabinet and started to flick through the pages.

Half an hour later, Ino's parents entered to hear their daughter cryptically say "So, we're all agreed then?"

* * *

A week later and Ino was glad she was finally back to school (which is a testament to how boring hospitals were) so her (evil but oh so satisfying) plan could be carried out.

She smirked. When she had heard about Naruto's history, she knew her plan would go off without a hitch.

When Temari entered the campus there was a blast of music and everyone looked around surprised.

Temari walked on and it soon became clear that the music was coming from around _her._

When someone (most likely Naruto) shouted "That's Ugly Girl by "Weird Al" Yankovic! Fitting, right?" everyone laughed. Temari shrieked in outrage. She stalked over to Kankuro but, before she could begin to rant about the music that was perpetually following her, he pinched his nose and complained. "Phew! Temari, you stink! What, did you not wash this morning or something?!"

Temari stood there gaping while Kankuro scampered over to Kin, not wanting to be associated with the reeking girl.

Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Naruto all stood openly laughing at the girl. Hinata was caught between laughing and worrying about what Temari might do in retaliation if she found out who did it.

"Y'know, Ino," said Tenten, in between bouts of laughter, "you can be _very _imaginative when you want to be." And she burst out laughing again.

* * *

At lunchtime, Shikamaru approached Ino and said that he wanted to talk privately with her.

"Look, Ino. Naruto told me that it was your idea for that prank on Temari."

"Yup! Wasn't it great? The music's still playing, and she _still _stinks! Naruto's amazing. I'll need to enlist his help for my other plans." The blonde girl gushed.

Shikamaru sighed and massaged his temples. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Your vendetta against Temari."

"But why?" Ino was confused. "She deserves everything she gets! Remember what she done to me, and all the other stunts she pulled."

"Just stop it, all right? It's troublesome, and you're just as bad as her."

Ino got angry. "Don't _ever _compare me to that thing! Why are you so concerned anyway?" she asked accusingly.

"Because I don't want to see my girlfriend turn into an evil, crazy, hell-spawn of a bitch!" Shikamaru was getting angry, and that was saying something.

"And I don't like my boyfriend bossing me around! Especially about something like this!" Ino was nearly shrieking. "Maybe we should just break-up 'cause I don't want to be in a relationship with someone who sticks up for their evil ex-girlfriends!"

Shikamaru yawned. "Fine."

"W-what?" Ino was a bit disconcerted by his reply.

Shikamaru shrugged. "If you don't want to go out anymore, that's fine by me."

"Fine!" yelped Ino, even though it obviously _wasn't _fine. She turned on her heel and stomped back over to her friends.

"By the way," called Shikamaru, "it wasn't Temari who did that to you."

* * *

AN: Oh... Well, there's something she didn't expect. I bet none of YOU suspected it, either!

And by the way... I really wish I didn't have to say this but I won't be updating ANY of my stories for while (maybe). I have to revise for my exams (they're just under a month away), and I won't really have time to write. I might be able to update, but don't hold your breath. SORRY! Sorry to the power of ten million!

Please review! I'll try to write more if you do!


	12. And So The Story Goes

AN: OH. MY. GOD. I AM SO SO SORRY. I can't believe it took so long to get this up! And that it's quite short too (it's longer than usual, though). I know I had an good excuse for the obscenely long update time (exams-ugh), but I still can't help but feel bad. I hope the content is to your satisfaction.

* * *

A week had passed and still Shikamaru hadn't apologised or explained what he meant by that last comment.

Ino had asked the other guys if they knew what he was talking about, but they claimed they didn't. Ino knew they were on Shikamaru's side, anyway, even if they didn't understand his logic. The only one who stuck by her was Kiba.

* * *

Ino sat down at the lunch table next to Kiba. She looked as if she hadn't slept in quite a while. "How are you feeling?" Kiba asked. Ino turned and smiled wearily at him. "As good as I could possibly be."

Sakura, Tenten and Hinata sat down at the table too. Tenten looked furious. Hinata looked at Ino with growing concern. She hadn't seen her eat lately. At lunchtime, all Ino did was push her food around her plate, and Hinata doubted she was eating at home, either. The shy girl jolted back to reality when she heard Ino ask Tenten a question.

"What's up?" Tenten's face darkened and she muttered, "Neji."

"Neji? What about Neji?" Ino was wrapped up in her own problems, but she still wanted to know why Tenten's crush was making her so angry.

Tenten was too angry to explain, so she left it up to Sakura. "Neji asked Tenten out."

"He did? That's great," Ino said happily, before taking another glance at Tenten's face. "…Or not…"

The pink haired girl continued, "Tenten said yes, of course, but then she started to ask about Shikamaru…" she trailed off forebodingly.

"Oh? And then what happened?"

"Well… Neji started saying some things about you, and Tenten defended you, and said stuff about Shikamaru, and they had a _huge_ fight."

Ino gasped. "So this is all my fault?" She clasped Tenten's hands, "I'm so sorry Tenten!"

"It's alright; it's not your fault."

"Neji's an idiot," said Kiba with vehemence, "in fact, all those guys are idiots, right? Especially Shikamaru…" He descended into mutterings about how "he doesn't deserve her", "how could he do that?" and other things along those lines.

Ino turned to Kiba and smiled at him. "Thanks for sticking by me. You're a great friend."

The boy slowly began to turn scarlet. He quickly picked up his lunch things and practically ran from the table and the cafeteria. Ino blinked and the other girls began to get knowing looks on their faces. "Ooh…" said Sakura, "This could stir up quite a bit of drama."

"What was that?" Ino looked up and asked.

"Ah! Nothing, nothing, don't worry about it."

* * *

The girls drifted into their Physics class, and made to sit in their respective seats. Ino didn't even look at Shikamaru as she sat next to him. He did likewise.

Their teacher picked up a metre stick and pointed it at the board. "We're going to be doing this experiment today. You can see how to set it up, and the instructions are on the board. You'll be working with the person next to you," Shikamaru groaned and Ino stiffened, "Get to it."

Ino stood up, took one step, froze, and collapsed.

"Ino!" Shikamaru dived and caught her just before her head hit the floor. Everyone crowded round them, and the teacher said, "Shikamaru, take her to the nurses office! Quickly!"

Shikamaru nodded and picked her up bridal-style.

* * *

"Is she going to be okay?" Kiba asked Shizune, the nurse, frantically. "She'll be fine," the nurse responded, "it was just lack of food. You can go in and see her, if you want." Before she had even finished the sentence, he was in there.

Ino was reading a book. "Ino!" Kiba strode over to her bedside, and sat down, his head down.

"Oh, hello Kiba." She put the book down and turned to him. Sighing, he said, "Don't ever do that to me again." Confused, Ino asked, "Do what?"

"Worry me like that."

"Oh…right."

Kiba held her hand, "Look, Ino, I really care about you, and, um…well…wouldyouliketogoonadatewithmesometime?"

Ino blinked rapidly. Was _Kiba_ asking _her_ out on a _date?_

"Well, just think about it okay? You can let me know later." He left the room as quickly as he had entered it.

* * *

Ino was on the sofa watching TV when a maid entered to say she had a guest. Shikamaru stepped into the room. "What do you want?" the blonde girl asked coldly. "I…I think it's time I explained everything to you."

"You bet it is."

Shikamaru fidgeted, Ino sighed, "You can sit down." When he had sat, she said, "Go on."

"Well…I know who attacked you."

"Yes, we established that. _How _do you know?"

"…I saw it happen." He began to squirm even more.

"You…you did? And you didn't _do_ anything?"

"I froze and…I'm a coward, and I couldn't move…when I _could _they were gone, it was me that took you to the hospital… I'm sorry."

Ino stood up, shaking with anger. "I don't care! It's too late to say sorry or do anything now."

Shikamaru stood too. "Ino…"

"Get out." Ino said softly. "Get out now."

Shikamaru hung his head and wanted to say more, but left all the same.

Ino fell onto the sofa, dazed. Then she picked up the phone. A few moments later, Kiba answered. Ino faltered, but then she told herself that she had, and would, do anything to get over that cowardly bastard. Starting with this. "Kiba…yes."

* * *

AN: Well... I feel bad for leaving you on this note after all that time, but... this is the end. Sorry for suddenly springing it on you! I wasn't planning this to be the end...but it is. Not to worry, though! There WILL be a sequel (we can't leave it like that, can we? I don't particularly like KibaIno), although it won't be up for a while (I'm going to update my other stories a whole lot before I begin it). I hope you enjoyed the story. Now, I'm away to celebrate my first finished chaptered fic XD Please review!


End file.
